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Records for Aug. 24

BIRD ISLAND -- The Bird Island Police Department is investigating reports of a suspicious person at the Renville County Fair who reportedly followed some children around the fairgrounds and, in a separate instance, attempted to grab a child from behind a stage.

Both incidents happened Friday evening and were reported to police shortly after 10 p.m.

A search for the suspect was initiated, both in the fairgrounds and around Bird Island. Members of the Bird Island Police Department, Renville County Sheriff's Department, Olivia Police Department and Morton Police Department assisted with the search. Fairgrounds personnel posted at the gates also were notified to be on the lookout.

Authorities were unable to find the person, however, and one report suggested the individual had been seen leaving the fairgrounds earlier.

The suspicious person was described as a white male, possibly in his late 20s or 30s, with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing jeans, a t-shirt, black boots and a black trenchcoat.

Anyone with information about this individual, or about additional contacts they may have had with him, should contact the Bird Island Police Department at 320-365-4101 or the Renville County Sheriff's Department at 320-523-1161.

Spicer condo evacuated in fire

SPICER -- Residents of a condominium complex in the 200 block of South Lake Avenue in Spicer had to be evacuated Sunday morning when fire broke out in one of the units.

The fire was reported shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Preliminary reports indicate the blaze may have broken out in a garage.

Firefighters from Spicer, as well as from New London, Atwater, Kandiyohi and Willmar, assisted on scene. The state fire marshal also was called in to investigate.

Arrests

WILLMAR -- Two people were arrested in connection with a fight Saturday morning in the Regency Estates West mobile home park.

Willmar Police were called to the neighborhood at 1:49 a.m. At least a dozen people were involved in a confrontation, some of them armed with rocks and knives. One person was arrested for second-degree assault and the other for disorderly conduct.

Police returned to Regency West at 4:22 a.m. when the fight flared up again. A group of people, some of them carrying rocks, reportedly surrounded a trailers in the park but there were no assaults or injuries.

Police broke up the fight again and remained in the neighborhood for some time to provide extra patrol.

PENNOCK -- A 48-year-old man was arrested Saturday for fleeing in his vehicle after a Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputy attempted to stop him shortly after 8 p.m. on U.S. Highway 12 in Pennock.

The man, who is from Webster, S.D., faces charges of fleeing in a motor vehicle and failing to have a valid driver's license.

A 20-year-old female passenger from Morris also was cited for underage drinking.

The man led authorities on a chase across the county line into Swift County, where he stopped on the east edge of Kerkhoven. The Swift County Sheriff's Office assisted.

Vandalism

WILLMAR -- An outbreak of graffiti was reported Saturday in an east Willmar neighborhood.

Graffiti was found on a utility box in the 500 block of Fifth Street Southeast and on the sidewalk and on a street sign at the corner of Fourth Street Southeast and Minnesota Avenue.

A garage door in the 400 block of Trott Avenue Southeast also was spray-painted with graffiti. Willmar Police are investigating.